About Albert

“Mood” incorporates the knowledge of many different skills into a single artifact. It is a combination of traditional hand-crafts (sculpting, woodwork), digital 3D modeling and experimental electronics. The base of the sculpture was built from wood, and the characters were sculpted with a traditional build-up method, using polymer clay on top of a metal wire armature. Electronic devices such as FM radio and 1,8 inch screens were integrated, creating a functional whole where 3D printing and electronic media art complements each other. Additionally, software hacking had to be implemented in the form of injecting numerical values to software live memory area. Bringing all of the components together required diverse knowledge and skills, from aesthetic decision making to manual tool work and electronic skills.

The wrestler’s head-screens are playing the default run of the ID Software classic “Doom” -with the blood patch. The on-game audio is FM transmitted, thus enabling the use of a beefier sound system or FM headphones.

The aesthetic goal was to combine classical, idealized (Golden Section/Fibonacci) anatomic figurative sculpture and contemporary graffiti-influenced expressionistic visual language with the fast paced visual intensity of ID Software’s iconic game: “Doom”. The name “Mood” is derived by reversing the letters in “Doom”. The static, monochromatic sculptural shapes contrast with the moving, colorful CG graphics of the 90’s interactive entertainment media.

The 3D printed parts were modeled in Blender and printed with Ultimaker 2. The electronics were compiled from cheap off-the-shelf & e-waste devices.

The artwork is approximately 0.5m high, and requires 5V/2A electric power. Power adapters from 220V mains are included. A white hollow cubic pedestal should be incorporated in gallery floor installations, to elevate the artwork to a reasonable eyesight height and to hide the power cables.

I encountered a problem using two screens with my trusty old Wacom Intuos 2 A5 tablet, as there was no option of 1:1 proportion mapping in pen mode spanning over both screens, without losing a significant amount of the tablets active area.

Solution: Buying a new version, with a “switch mapping -feature” (no thanks Wacom)..

or…

Autohotkey script (works with allWacom tablets, including the Bamboo and Graphire -series)

I found this solution from the Wacom forum, but alas, it did not work “off the bat”.

A more updated version of the same procedure was here, in the autohotkey support community.

It didn’t work either, as I have a 64-bit windows. After a bit of research, I modified the script, that now works 100%

2: Make a new text file (on the desktop or where ever), and paste this code in to it:

#NoEnv ; Recommended for performance and compatibility with future AutoHotkey releases.SendMode Input ; Recommended for new scripts due to its superior speed and reliability.SetWorkingDir %A_ScriptDir% ; Ensures a consistent starting directory.

I had this idea a few years back, when I heard that growth hormones are used in the U.S poultry industry.

When I saw the Finnish “From Bits to Atoms” call for entries, I decided to enter the competition with this entertaining “Professional Fitness” character.

The competition called digital artists to send their work to be machined / printed in physical format.

This statue called for classical influences, but with a contemporary popular culture twist.

I did most of the work in Sculptris. Text was made with Inkscape, and extruded to the 3rd dimension in Blender. Text was also combined with the posed character in Blender. Blender cycles is really awesome!

Today (19th of April 2012) was the day when the winners of “From Bits to Atoms” -rapid prototyping contest were revealed!

Below a (cellphone) pic of the Winner of the “creative, aesthetic & entertaining” -category, and the grumpy Runner-Up:

…And not in that specific order. The figurative sculpture is the Runner-Up, and the design vase won.

..Sorry about the coffee mug behind the winner, and the bad quality photo. I’ll take & post better ones later.

Industrial design was valued high by Jukka Tuomi, who picked the winners of both categories; the “creative, aesthetic & entertaining” -category & the “inventive, usability” -category.

I’m happy for the experience, and the ability to test the detail limits of the current 3D printing technology (I made this beast detailed enough to be printed in life-size!). Getting my sculpture Rapid Prototyped for free (a service worth 600-700 Euro) was nice too 😉 I do think the result looks great! People passing by seemed to like spending time gazing my sculpture as well.

Our installation is selected in the 4th International Festival of Video Art, Camagüey 2011, Cuba.

It seems to have an effect in many cultures. Maybe because (whilst doing it) I ended up dealing with the general questions of humanity that are common to us all, regarldess of culture and political country.

It’s time to post some art done in “old school” medium; The Graphite pencil.

Between 1997 – 1999 in my teens, I spent a considerable amount of time doing small psychological portraits.
I had a perfectionist obsession with an 0.3 mm mechanical pencil with HB softness leads.

That was before I learned the digital medium. Even before I learned to illustrate with an airbrush.

I did some pretty amazing stuff with my trusty old 0.3 mm back then 😉 It was the tool of my choice!

Usually i took a sheet of A4 photocopy paper, with a fine grain (to give the HB leads a little something to bite in to).

With such a fine tip, I developed a technique to lighten the strokes to a minimum. I lifted the paper off the table to apply the lightest pencil strokes possible. I did not use an eraser or smudge the paper with anything. I wanted it to be clean. To me, Cleanliness was next to Godliness!

As I was zoning out and shading an area, pass by pass darkening it, impurities such as a dust speckle, or the grain of the paper caused slightly darker details. I took these “errors” as sort of hints, and started to plot what they represented to me. I started to see shapes of immense detail… I managed to tap in to my creative subconsciousness. I started to refine those details and instinctively rotated the pen between my fingers to find the sharpest edge of the 0.3 mm tip. That way I could reach dents in the paper grain, and make areas darker, where need to be.

As I continued finishing the piece, the complex shapes started to connect, creating dynamics and content.
It seemed that the grain of the paper continued the shapes to an immense level of detail. Some people (with sharp eyesight) have experienced that mesmerizing effect.

I did this piece yesterday, with the very same exact 0.3 mm mechanical pencil 🙂 I’m happy I still have the precision, patience and light touch to create with this challenging style! Spending some 15 hours with an area of 115 mm x 125 mm may sound crazy to some, but hey, Art is! I’ts quite beautiful original IRL (In Real Life).

One might say that the face is realistic, and the “hair” is abstract, even tough I see it the other way around. I see the face as simplified to very few contours of flowing shape, and the shading in the face is a subtle hint to it’s form. To me, the hair is the “tangible” part 😀 It took most of my time creating it.

This kind of a piece has some timeless feeling to it. A hybrid of some Art Nouveau, Classical, Cartoon and Graffiti style… Somehow, I see it alive and breathing. The present, without abandoning the past…

Maybe someone would like to plot the hidden message in the graffiti style lettering from the abstraction?